Awesome

When I was young and stupid I always wanted to be tested in combat. This book audio and written tells how stupid I was to wish for it. I just can't imagine how I would feel slowly advancing, up Longdon, seeing my brothers killed in the most violent way. Thanks for writing this book James O 'Connol. Thanks for your service.

4 people found this helpful

Interesting first hard accounts

Good first hand accounts but didn't seem in much of a logical order and the narrator's got half the pronunciation wrong when using callsigns. Sometimes used phonetic alphabet and sometimes didn't, main thing that bothered me was they said 42 (forty two) commando rather than 4 2 ( four two) commando and similar....

3 people found this helpful

A war book like no other!

A war book like no other I have ever read. The mullti-dimensional way the book is written and narrated really transports the listener into the thick of the battle action, which oftentimes is very moving and harrowing. I recommend first reading Max Hastings excellent book on the Falklands war to give you a wider overview of the whole conflict and then Three Days in June as its companion. One definitely not to be missed for war buffs.

2 people found this helpful

Awesome.

Never had the opportunity to deploy to the Falklands when I was serving in the British Infantry, but I would like to visit to pay my respects as a veteran. Scouse, this is the best and most informative book I've ever read on the Falklands war, and I applaud you and everyone who fought there and I salute the men who made the ultimate sacrifice and who never came home. They will never be forgotten.

2 people found this helpful

Too hard to follow as an audio presentation

I would *read* this one - content is excellent. But as a listening thing... very hard to follow - needs to be reworked / reshaped into more of a continuous narrative for audiobook I would suggest i.e.needs the Damien Lewis treatment.

1 person found this helpful

Detailed history of an epic and brutal battle, but poorly narrated

This is an excellent history of 3 Para’s assault on Mount Longdon. The story is retold from the overlapping perspectives of the battalion’s individual companies in great detail. The sacrifices of the soldiers, their bravery and their determination is really quite incredible. The brutality and waste of warfare is brought to light along with the compassion and heart break that goes with it.

Sadly the Audible production is let down by poor narration. Although the use of multiple voices brings the story to life, this is undermined by the lack of understanding of the topic leading to the poor emphasis of particular terms and continual mis-translation of military abbreviations that become quite jarring.

That said, it is worth persevering as the story itself deserves to be heard and is a fitting memorial to those who lost their lives and to those who continued to pay the price long after they came home.

This book should be on your bucket list.

Ive always had a keen interest in the Falklands War and the fight for the mountains around Stanley in particular. Mount Longdon was a hard fought uphill night battle in sub zero temperatures against a well dug in and prepared enemy. Over the years there have been so many irregularities written about individual actions and rumours of war crimes committed by individuals that were serious enough to warrant a Scotland Yard enquiry.
The author James O’Connell, who was wounded during the battle, has produced a stunning 3d like portrait of events on that jagged feature chronicling the movements of companies, sub units and individuals throughout the 3 days of occupation on Mount Longdon. He sets the record straight with the help of detailed interviews with many former comrades and with access to the battalion log he has produced an incredible book. The fighting is savage, It is interspersed with moments of fear, heroism, humour and sadness.
I visited the Falklands recently and Mt Longdon was my first port of call. It was surreal walking the battlefield and seeing the exact places where individuals had fallen and where Ian McKay earned his Victoria Cross.
Its a long read but it was necessary in order to portray the actual events so the release of an audio version will no doubt be an advantage to some. …… first class book, wether you read it or listen.

Excellent

I have nothing but praise for the author of this book. An incredibly comprehensive account of those three days in June. I was only 12 years old at the time of the Falklands war, but my father who has been in the special forces I’ve been told that he might be needed to redeploy. Thankfully that did not happen.

I would like to thank the author for going to such comprehensive links for this book and I would have no hesitation in recommending it.

Fascinating Listen

This was a truly memorable and graphic story of when 3 Para took Longdon. You can almost relive the nightmare those poor but brave men experienced.

Highly Detailed With Multiple Perspectives

This book provides a very detailed account of the assault on mount Longdon and the subsequent march into Port Stanley of the third Parachute regiment during the Falklands war of 1982. In a way, the book provides more detail than is really required for the average reader. In fact, as I recall, the author of this book originally wrote it to provide as much information on the battle for Longdon with the target audience originally intended to be those involved and their families. For example, we are read reports that include grid references and radio call signs, which for most non military readers, will be of little use.

The book is ably read by a multitude of narrators, used to portray the different men from which we see the battle unfold. Of course, given the number of accounts, many of the narrators have to double up and read multiple parts. While on the subject of narrators, I have to say that I found the general narrative voice, used to read the aforementioned reports, was somewhat jarring to listen to at first, It rather reminded me of a twelve year old boy whose voice hadn't broken yet. However, to be fair, this does provide a clear distinction between his voice and those of the soldiers.

What's also very welcome, is the contribution of some surviving Argentinians regarding the battle as they saw it. This provides some much needed information to help clarify the confusion in the fog of war. I found it nice to hear how the former enemies had met many years later on the same battlefield and shook hands and chatted. Old foes became new friends, and that's how it should be after hostilities have ended.

The overall format of the book is interesting in how the multiple angles of the same battle are told. It somewhat reminded me of a kind of a 'Ground Hog Day' format, where we hear the story of the battle for Longdon from one group of men, then we reset back to the beginning of the assault and then hear the account as told from other men in other companies. This return to the start and retelling from the point of view of others occurs several times and does result in some repetition and overlap of stories. I did find it a little difficult sometimes to tie together related events that were seen from different points of view. For me, I think I would've opted for the parallel and linear format. In other words, I would've told the story in a single iteration, but moving from company to company during the course of events.

The book does a sterling job of giving the reader an insight into the brutal conditions the soldiers faced during the freezing nights as well as the food and water factors at times. It was a brutal campaign, fought in the harshest of environments against an enemy, surprisingly for me, that often had better equipment than the British. One case in point, was the fact that the Argentinians had access to U.S night vision equipment and the British were limited to the occasional night scope on a weapon. This imbalance was indeed a revelation to me, countered perhaps by the heavy use of poorly trained conscripts by the Argentinian forces. Had the British faced a totally professional force, along with the advantages of the night visions system so desperately needed in the pitch black environment, one might wonder if the British might have fared rather worse in the land battles.

Although we see a glimpse of how the lives of some of those were after the Falklands, including the author after his horrific injuries. I'd have liked to hear more of the post conflict difficulties faced by many involved in order to paint a fuller picture of how combat affects soldiers over the longer term.

Three Days in June provides incredible levels of detail and should be a must read for those interested in the various battles for the Falklands. There are many more great books available, so may I recommend Goose Green by Nigel Ely, which tells the story of two Para's fight for Goose Green.